


where the sky hangs

by commovente



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Pre-Canon, Relationship Study, junior high tsukkiyamas having rooftop conversations basically
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-15
Updated: 2016-02-15
Packaged: 2018-05-20 18:30:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6020524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/commovente/pseuds/commovente
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              
<p></p><blockquote>
  <p>“i mean, there’s still next year — we start high school, you know? and the year after that, and the year after that. i mean, who knows -- </p>
  <p>maybe we’ll keep playing in college too. maybe we’ll never quit playing volleyball, ever.” </p>
</blockquote>
            </blockquote>





	where the sky hangs

**Author's Note:**

> hello! 
> 
> this is a pinch hit for the haikyuu valentine's exchange. one of the requests was a delinquent AU, which i tried writing out with tsukkiyama....but really, tsukki would be the worst delinquent ever, he'd probably just sneak up to the rooftop where nobody can bother him.
> 
> (except for yamaguchi. but yamaguchi's not a bother at all.)
> 
> i hope you enjoy this anyway! happy (late) valentines' day <3
> 
>  
> 
> title from _where the sky hangs_ , by passion pit: [(x)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDuwmU1a1kY)

after practice, their captain calls tadashi over.

“hey, yamaguchi. have you seen tsukishima today?”

tadashi glances at the rest of the gym, eyes flitting between team members tadashi already knows aren’t tsukki. he slips his hands behind his back, tangles them together uneasily. 

their captain sighs.

“yamaguchi?”

“um.” yamaguchi forces himself to look captain in the eyes but doesn’t quite manage, settles for just beneath them instead. “i haven’t….i don’t really — know. where he is.”

it’s not exactly a lie.

he ducks into a bow, tells himself it’s to apologise on tsukki’s behalf, instead of running away for his own. “i’m sorry!”

when he looks back up, their captain’s holding a hand out to him, looking a bit rueful himself. “hey, don’t apologise — it’s not your fault. but tell him to come to practice next time you see him, yeah?”

tadashi mumbles in response before leaving. nobody comes to chase after him, but he keeps his pace quick all the same. 

 

 

“i thought you might be here.”

and tadashi did, but as he followed the steps to the school building’s roof, he couldn’t help hoping that maybe, just maybe, he was wrong. not necessarily because tsukki being on the roof meant he’d broken school rules, as well as the door’s lock while he was at it — both of which he obviously did — but because of _why_ he might do it in the first place.

_(final score, 25 - 21. both teams, line up!)_

tsukki glances up from where he’s leaning against the rooftop fence. it’s late enough for the sky to start its slow descent into evening, but there’s light enough still to bounce off the lens of tsukki’s glasses, and tadashi isn’t sure what to make of tsukki’s otherwise blank expression.

(blank, but not neutral. never neutral. in all the years he’s known his best friend, one thing tadashi has learned with absolute certainty is that tsukishima is not nearly as passive as he’d like to be. he can feel it, the way he constantly holds himself back, and tadashi sometimes wonders how far tsukki might go if he’d learn how to push himself forward, instead.

tadashi feels his fingers twitch at the thought.)

they both stay where they are for a while, tsukki sitting by the fence and tadashi standing by the door, a flock of birds circling in the sky overhead.

finally tsukki says, “weren’t you going to the library after class?”

tadashi watches tsukki’s hands as he replies, thinks he sees them twist from deep inside tsukishima’s pockets. he doesn’t smile but he can feel the sentiment for one — one part exasperation, three parts familiar affection — lingering behind his lips when he replies.

“the library’s on the second floor, tsukki.”

tsukishima doesn’t flinch, because he knows that too. 

tadashi continues. 

“and — there was club today, so…”

tsukki knows that, too, and his lack of reaction is reaction enough for tadashi. 

he doesn’t think he can, or even wants, to push tsukki, but he also thinks a little nudge might be okay.

“i was thinking it’d be nice to stop by every now and again. you know, since…”

_we retired,_ tadashi means to say.

“we lost,” tsukishima finishes instead.

tadashi laughs, breathy and not entirely there.

“well, yes.” there’s no denying that. “but they’re still our team, right? we can still come back for practice sometimes.”

tsukki is quiet for a bit. he’s not staring at tadashi, but tadashi feels like he should do something anyway — with his hands, or his feet, or maybe even his —

“if you want,” tsukki says. his tone is careful, even. “but i don’t see why. it’s just a club, anyway.”

_but it’s volleyball,_ tadashi thinks.

_but you love it,_ tadashi thinks.

“you’re doing it again,” he says, accidentally, and he wants to slap a hand over his mouth but you can’t catch words that are already gone. tsukki frowns, and he always looks like he’s pouting when he does, which always makes tadashi laugh and no, now is not the time for this at all…

keeping his lips firmly together, tadashi moves to sit next to tsukki. hugging his knees, he considers what he’s about to say. tsukishima waits, fingers running over the cracks in the floor of the roof.

“losing doesn’t mean you have to stop, i think, and — hey, tsukki?”

tsukki turns to face him. his hands stop moving. there’s dirt caught under some of his fingers, but tadashi wants to reach for his hand anyway. he leans back against the fence, stretches his arms up toward the sky instead, palms up. his splayed fingers look long enough to frame a cloudy patch of sky.

“i don’t think we’ve lost yet. not really.” 

tsukki hums in response, neither a yes or no, but it’s good enough, and tadashi keeps going.

“i mean, there’s still next year — we start high school, you know? and the year after that, and the year after that. i mean, who knows,” and tadashi lets himself laugh now, just a little, “maybe we’ll keep playing in college too. maybe we’ll never quit playing volleyball, ever.”

tadashi lets his arms fall over his knees, leans to the right until his shoulder knocks against tsukki’s. tsukishima turns to face him, and they’re so close like this, close enough to see tsukki’s eyes through his glasses, close enough for tadashi to see his own face reflected in them. 

“what if we keep losing, even then?” tsukki’s voice is soft.

tadashi smiles.

“won’t know until we try.”

tsukki faces forward again, lets his eyes fall closed. he looks like he’s thinking something over. 

tadashi hums a tune he’s been hearing a lot on the radio, recently. he wonders if tsukki’s got it saved to his iPod, if maybe he should ask for a copy of it later. towards the end of the chorus, tsukishima lets his head tip to the side, and tadashi pays no mind to it except to shift his shoulder a little, making it more comfortable for them both.

tsukki asks, “are you playing volleyball in high school?” 

tadashi stops singing, doesn’t miss a beat. “yeah. are you?”

tsukki smiles then, and there’s the briefest slip of white, teeth pressing against his lip before he relaxes, lets the smile stay. he lifts his head from tadashi’s shoulder, dusting his pants off before turning to offer a hand to tadashi.

“let’s go, yamaguchi.”

tadashi takes the hand, gives it a squeeze.

“okay, tsukki.”

tsukki squeezes back.

 

 

 

they let go when they get to the door, tsukki pulling out a spare lock from his pocket to lock back up before they leave (“ _tsukki!_ why do you even have that?” “well, i definitely don’t see _you_ holding a replacement lock.” “that’s…not the point, tsukki. at all.”).

just before they shut the door behind them, though, tadashi takes one more look up at the sky. there are only a few birds left, now, different from the ones he’d seen flying before. their caws echo down the stairway, even after the door closes.

tadashi thinks they sound like crows.

 

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading!
> 
> ([tumblr](https://www.aobaejousai.tumblr.com), [twitter](https://www.twitter.com/kitaiichis))


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